SPAIN

SPAIN

Spain is a country and member state of the European Union, located in southwestern Europe on the

Iberian Peninsula. Spanish territory also includes the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean, the Canary

Islands in the Atlantic Ocean off the African coast, and two autonomous cities in North Africa, Ceuta

and Melilla, that border Morocco. Madrid is the capital of the country.

With a population of about 47 million people, living principally in big or medium villages (Madrid,

Barcelona, Valencia, Sevilla, Bilbao, etc.) and around the coasts, Spain is a democracy organized in the

form of a parliamentary government under a constitutional monarchy, today under Juan Carlos I,

composed of 17 autonomous communities and two autonomous cities with varying degrees of

autonomy thanks to its Constitution. Spain is member of the United Nations, European Union, NATO,

OECD, and WTO.

Mainland Spain is a mountainous country, dominated by high plateaus and mountain chains, such as the

Pyrenees, the Sistema Ibérico, Sistema Central, Sierra Morena, whose highest peak, Mulhacén, located

in Sierra Nevada, is the highest elevation in the Iberian peninsula, while the highest point in Spain is the

Teide, an active volcano in the Canary Islands. The Meseta Central is a vast plateau in the heart of

peninsular Spain.

There are several major rivers in Spain such as the Tagus, the Ebro, the Duero, the Guadiana and the

Guadalquivir.

The Mediterranean climate is dominant in the peninsula, but a semiarid climate can be found in the

southeastern quarter of the country, especially in the region of Murcia and in the Ebro valley, the

oceanic climate in the north quarter of the country, the alpine climate in the Pyrenees and Sierra Nevada,

and a typical subtropical climate in the Canary Islands.

Today, the climate of Spain, historical and cultural monuments and its geographic position together with

its facilities make tourism one of Spain's main national industries.

Nevertheless, Spain is one of the world's leading countries in the development and production of

renewable energy, especially solar power and wind energy.

Roman Catholicism has long been the main religion of Spain, but it no longer has official status by law.

Spain is officially a secular country which recognizes religious freedom.

LANGUAGES IN SPAIN

Spanish (español or castellano, Castilian) is spoken all over the country and so is the only language with

official status nationwide. But a number of regional languages have been declared co-official, along with

Spanish, in the constituent communities where they are spoken:Basque (euskera) (2%) in the Basque

Country and Navarre;

Catalan (català) (17%) in Catalonia and the Balearic Islands; Valencian (valencià), a distinct variant of

Catalan, is official in the Valencian Community; Galician (galego) (7%)[134] in Galicia.

There are also some other Romance minority languages, which have no official but protected status,

such Asturian (or "Bable“) in Asturias, and Leonese, in Castile and León and Aragonese in Aragon.

PREHISTORY IN SPAIN

Speaking about history usually means going back to its prehistory, the Paleolithic, whose today´s

presence on the Peninsula includes remarkable traces of both material and fosile origin. Those dating

from the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods are not less significant. Soon the first colonizers would appear

on the peninsula in order to settle down and to exchange different types of knowledge, techniques and

objects with the native population. This would become an outstanding feature: the peninsula as a space

of transit, invasion and settlement for a series of subsequent people.

Iberia has a wealth of prehistoric sites. Many of the best preserved prehistoric remains are in the

Atapuerca region, rich with limestone caves that have preserved a million years of human evolution.

Among these sites is the cave of Gran Dolina, where six hominin skeletons, dated between 780,000 and

1.2 million years ago, were found in 1994.

The two main historical people of the peninsula were the Iberians and the Celts. The Iberians

inhabited the Mediterranean side from the northeast to the southeast. The Celts inhabited the Atlantic

side, in the north, center (Celtiberian), northwest and southwest part of the peninsula.

Lady of Elche. Iberian sculpture from the 4th century BC

In the south of the peninsula appeared the semi-mythical city of Tartessos (c.1100 BC), which held a

flourishing trade in items made of gold and silver with the Phoenicians and Greeks.

Between about 500 BC and 300 BC, the seafaring Phoenicians and Greeks founded trading

colonies along the Mediterranean coast. The Carthaginians briefly exerted control over much of the

Mediterranean side of the peninsula, until defeated in the Punic Wars by the Romans.

ROMAN SPAIN

It took the Romans nearly two centuries to complete the conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, though they

had control of much of it for over six centuries.

The Romans gradually assimilated the new territory, imposing their laws and customs, while they

proceeded to the systematic exploitation of its wealth.

The first Roman settlements were small shopping centers or military camps during the conquest, later

transformed in cities for veterans who obtained land as a reward for their services. Primitive pre-roman

villages were also transformed following the rules of roman urbanism, adopting the Roman ways of life.

The lines of communication, the new infrastructures and the economic forms were also accompanied

by a new language, the Latin, and a complex legal system.

Valuable archaeological sites show today the Roman splendor in the Iberian Peninsula, such as Mérida,

Tarragona, Itálica o Lugo.

Roman theatre. Mérida.

Roman arch. Tarragona.

Roman amphitheatre. Itálica.

Roman wall. Lugo.

Important personalities of imperial Rome were born in Spain, including the emperors Trajan,

Hadrian and Theodosius, or writers like Seneca, Lucan, Martial and Quintilian.

Emperor Trajan

During the Ancient History, Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, and later during the Medieval

Period, Visigoths, Jews and the Islamic presence for almost eight centuries would have a great influence

on the territory and its population. Each of them would leave their mark, so that the society appearing in

the early Modern Times would become a cultural melting pot, in spite of the Crown´s and the Church´s

constant attempt of unification.

Medieval castle in Villena

The discovery of America, its subsequent colonization and the resulting empire gave the Spanish reigns

a dominant role in Europe and all over the world for three centuries.

Christopher Columbus and the discovery of America

The slow decline and the loss of hegemony would lead, after the War of Independence in the beginning

of the 19th

Century, into a century which was mostly defined by the confrontation between the

'reactionary forces' lead by the monarchy and the church, i.e. The Ancient Regime, and the ideas of

progress and science which came from Europe and were adopted by the so called 'liberals'. Civil wars,

coups, proclamations, constitutions and republics doomed the most disastrous century of our history, as

a prelude to the final conclusion which exploded in the 20th century. The Civil War appears as the

climax of the confrontation between 'the two Spains'.

The victory achieved by Franco and his subsequent dictatorship did not solve the conflict which still

remains latent even after the tyrant´s death in 1975 and the beginning democracy.

The constitution of 1978, the membership in the EU since 1986 and the country´s modernization process

in the past decades, are all together facts which put us, at the beginning of the 21st century and despite

of the current difficulties, in the heart of the contemporary Europe with all its advantages and

dissadvantages, but do not save us from our particular circumstances.

Spain and the euro

ART IN SPAIN

Spanish art has often had distinctive characteristics and been assessed somewhat separately from other

European schools. These differences can be partly explained by the Moorish heritage in Spain

(especially in Andalucía), and through the political and cultural climate in Spain during the Counter-

Reformation and the subsequent eclipse of Spanish power under the Bourbon dynasty.

PAINTING

ROMANESQUE

In Spain, the art of the Romanesque period represented a smooth transition from the preceding Roman

styles. A major centre for Romanesque frescoes was in Catalonia with good examples in the churches of

the Vall de Boí area; many of these were only uncovered during the 20th Century. The finest examples

of Castillian Romanesque frescoes are considered to be those in the San Isidoro in Leon, the paintings

from San Bauderlio in Castillas de Berlanga, Soria and those from Santa Cruz de Maderuelo in Segovia.

San Isidoro in Leon

GOTHIC

The Gothic art of Spain represented a gradual development from previous Romanesque styles, being led

by external models, first from France, and then later from Italy. Another distinctive aspect was the

incorporation of Mudejar elements. Eventually the Italian influence, which transmitted Byzantine

stylistic techniques and iconography, entirely displaced the initial Franco-Gothic style.

RENAISSANCE AND MANNIERISM

Overall the Renaissance and subsequent Mannerist styles are hard to categorise in Spain, due to the mix

of Flemish and Italian influences, and regional variations. Apart from technical aspects, the themes and

spirit of the Renaissance were modified to the Spanish culture and religious environment. Consequently,

very few classical subjects or female nudes were depicted, and the works frequently exhibited a sense of

pious devotion and religious intensity - attributes that would remain dominant in much art of Counter

Reformation Spain throughout the 17th Century, and beyond. Important Mannerist artists included

Vicente Juan Masip (1475–1550) and his son Juan de Juanes (1510–1579), the painter and architect

Pedro Machuca (1490–1550), and Juan Correa de Vivar (1510–1566). However, the most popular

Spanish painter of the early 17th Century was Luis de Morales (1510?-1586), called by his

contemporaries "The Divine", because of the religious intensity of his paintings.

Pietà, by Luis de Morales

SPANISH GOLDEN AGE

El Greco (1541–1614) was one of the most individualistic painters of the period, developing a strongly

Mannerist style, in contrast to the naturalist approaches preominant in Seville, Madrid and elsewhere in

Spain at the time. Many of his works reflect the silvery-greys and strong colours of Venetian painters

such as Titian, but combined with strange elongations of figures, unusual lighting, disposing of

perspective space, and filling the surface with very visible and expressive brushwork.

The Burial of Count Orgaz by El Greco

Francisco Zurbarán is known for the forceful, realistic use of chiaroscuro in his religious paintings and

still-lifes.

Diego Velázquez (1599–1660) was the leading artist in the court of King Philip IV. He created scores of

portraits of the Spanish royal family, other notable European figures, and commoners. In many portraits,

Velázquez gave a dignified quality to less fortunate members of society like beggars and dwarfs. In

contrast to these portraits, the gods and goddesses of Velázquez tend to be portrayed as common people,

without divine characteristics. Besides the forty portraits of Philip by Velázquez, he painted portraits of

other members of the royal family, including princes, infantas (princesses), and queens.

The Meninas by Velázquez

BAROQUE

Baroque elements were introduced as a foreign influence, through visits by Rubens and van Dyck. The

pre-eminent painter of the period - and most famous Spanish painter prior to the 19th century

appreciation of Velázquez, Zurbarán and El Greco - was Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617–1682).

Working for most of his career in Seville, his early work reflected the naturalism of Caravaggio, using a

subdued, brown palette, simple but not harsh lighting, and religious themes that are portrayed in a

natural or domestic setting, as in his Holy Family with a Little Bird (c. 1650).Later he incorporated

elements of the Flemish Baroque from Rubens and Van Dyck. In the Soult Immaculate Conception, a

brighter and more radiant colour range is used, the swirling cherubs bringing all the focus upon the

Virgin, The Immaculate Conception of the Virgin theme alone was represented about twenty times by

Murillo.

La Inmaculada by Murillo

18TH

CENTURY

The beginning of the Bourbon dynasty in Spain under Philip V led to great changes in art patronage,

with the new French-oriented court favoring the styles and artists of Bourbon France. Few Spanish

painters were employed by the court and it took some time before Spanish painters adapted to the new

Rococo and Neoclassical styles.

Francisco de Goya was a portraitist and court painter to the Spanish Crown, a chronicler of history, and

in his unofficial work, a revolutionary and a visionary. Goya painted the Spanish royal family, including

Charles IV of Spain and Ferdinand VII. His themes range from merry festivals for tapestry, draft

cartoons, to scenes of war, fighting and corpses. In his early stage, he painted draft cartoons as templates

for tapestries and focused on scenes from everyday life with vivid colours. During his lifetime, Goya

also made several series of "grabados", etchings which depicted the decadence of society and the horrors

of war. His most famous painting series are the Black Paintings, painted at the end of his life. This series

features works that are obscure in both colour and meaning, producing uneasiness and shock.

Francisco Goya, The Third of May

19TH

CENTURY

Several movements of the 19th Century influenced Spanish artists, largely through them undertaking

training in foreign capitals, particularly in Paris and Rome. In this way Neo-classicism, Romanticism,

Realism and Impressionism became important strands. However, they were often delayed or

transformed by local conditions, including repressive governments, and by the tragedies of the Carlist

Wars.Portraits and historical subjects were popular, and the art of the past - particularly the styles and

techniques of Velazquez - were significant. Mariano Fortuny(1838–1874) developed a strong Realist

style,

The Valencian Joaquín Sorolla (1863–1923) excelled in the dexterous representation of the people and

landscape under the sunlight of his native land, thus reflecting the spirit of Impressionism in many

paintings, particularly his famous seaside paintings. In Children on the beach he makes the reflections,

shadows and gloss of the water and skin his true subject. The composition is very daring, with the

horizon omitted, one of the boys cut off, and strong diagonals leading to the contrasts and increased

saturation of the upper-left of the work.

Joaquín Sorolla, Children on the beach, 1910, Prado

20TH

CENTURY

During the first half of 20th Century many leading Spanish artists were working in Paris, where they

contributed to developments in the Modernist art movement. As perhaps the most important example of

this, Picasso, working together with the French artist Braque, created the concepts of Cubism; and the

sub-movement of Synthetic Cubism has been judged to have found its purest expression in the paintings

and collages of Madrid-born Juan Gris.] In a similar way, Salvador Dalí became a central figure of the

Surrealist movement in Paris; and Joan Miró was influential in abstract art.

Girl by Picasso

Salvador Dalí was a central artist within the Surrealist movement in Paris.

La persistencia de la memoria by Dalí

Joan Miró was also closely associated with the Surrealists in Paris, who particularly approved of his use

of automatism in composition and execution,designed to expose the subconscious mind.

Joan Miró, La Leçon de Ski, 1966

. SPANISH LITERATURE

The "Golden Age", the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, is, as its name suggests, the greatest

period in Spanish Literature as well as the other arts. Influenced by the Renaissance and reacting to the

Reformation, Spain produced a wealth of prose, poetry and drama.

The publication of a collection of works by two poets, Boscan and Garcilaso, stimulated poetry into new

forms and new subject matter. Sonnets and other Italian forms were used, the poetry made more use of

the Castillian language, and the subjects ranged from love over to patriotism, nature and metaphysical

speculation.

This expansion encouraged others such as the humanist poet of the early sixteenth century, Fray Luis de

Leon, who wrote of the arts, science, classics, and ranged over as yet unsung realms of human

experience. Religious writers of the Golden Age include San Juan de la Cruz (St. John of the Gross],

Fernando de Herrera (The Divine], and Santa Teresa de Avila, founder of the Carmelite Order.

Fiction at this time consisted largely of "Books of Chivalry", informative on the customs of the time but

lengthy, repititious and dull and destined to be satirized in "Don Quixote". Pastoral novels and the

particularly Spanish genre called "picaresque" novel also flourished The best known of this last is "La

Vida de Lazarillo de Tormes", of unknown authorship, which relates in a very down-to-earth manner the

adventures of a young boy in his attempt to better his station in life, the usual subject of the form. "La

Vida de Lazarillo de Tormes" is quite bawdy in parts and seems to dwell on the seamier side of life,

describing ailments, pimples and so forth with great attention to detail.

A new element entered Spanish Literature with the appearence of "Guzman de Alfarache", by Mateo

Aleman, which had a strong influence on the picaresque form through its propensity to moralizing at

great length. In "Guzman" there are whole chapters devoted to moralizing. This was followed by a spate

of similar moralizing novels.

DON QUIXOTE

Suddenly arising alone from this rather unrewarding period is the greatest of Spanish books,"Don

Quixote", by Cervantes.

The book is so well known that little need be said of it here. The lean figure of the Knight of La Mancha

and his stout alter ego, Sancho Panza, have found their way to every corner of the globe, being

translated into every language of educated people. Thoroughly Spanish, yet at the same time universal, it

is one of those books ranked with the classics of the world, a symbol of the ineffable qualities Spanish

Culture bequeathed to the West.

Other writers of the Golden Age, Gongora, Quevedo and Gracian, produced some of the most complex

writings of Spain.Gongora, an Andalucian, in particular developed more and more toward obscurity. His

style of poetry took romance poetry up to more sophisticated levels, called "culteranismo". His two

major poems written in this style are "The Fable of Polyphemus and Galatea", and "Solitudes". He

Latinized the syntax of his poetry and used many Latin words while his metaphors became increasingly

difficult to comprehend.Quevedo seems to have been aware that Spain was in the decline and employed

satire and pessimism, evident in prose works such as the picaresque novel "La Vida del Buscon" and

especially in his nightmarish work, "Sueños" (Visions). Quevedo also wrote some beautiful love

sonnets.

Gracian was an essayist and a Jesuit who wrote on various virtues. His allegorical novel, "EI Criticon",

is one of the better known of Spanish Classics.By the eighteenth century the creative spark seems to

have grown dim. The first half of the century was characterized by preoccupation with the new French

ideas, especially political liberalism, which conflicted with Spanish tradition and confused the culture as

well as the politics of the country.The prose of the century was dry and academic, relieved only by the

appearance of "Fray Gerundio" by the Jesuit, Padre Jose Francisco de Isla.Eighteenth century poetry is

represented by the "light" verse of Juan Melendez Valdes, about flowers and the like, and lacking deep

thought.

THE ROMANTIC PERIOD

The nineteenth century ushered in the liberals, many of them returning exiles. This was the Romantic

Period in Spain as elsewhere, and the Spanish Romantics were Angel de Saavedra, whose best-known

poems are romances on historical themes; Josh de Espronceda, moody, melencholic revolutionary and

José Zorrilla, the most popular of nineteenth century poets.Two major poets emerged during this

century: Rosalia Castro, who wrote many poems in her native Galician, and Gustavo Adolfo Becquer.

Both were influenced by the popular poetry of the time, the "Coplas", little, two or three line stanzas

normally sung and reflecting the regions in which they were composed.The nineteenth century was also

a fertile one for prose, producing two important men: Mariano Josh de Larra and Benito Perez Galdos.

The first was a satirist and journalist, whose hard-driving works pointed out the anachronisms and

absurdities of the Spain of his day. His own attention to the failings of his country eventually drove him

to despair and he shot himself before the age of 30.Galdos was a formidable writer, often called the

Spanish equivalent of Dickens and still too little known outside Spain. His output was immense: his

series of historical novels, known as the "Episodios Nacionales", contain 46 volumes. Apart from these

he wrote more than 30 novels, of which the best include "Doria Perfecta". "Gloria", "Fortunata y

Jacinta" and "Misericordia".Galdos' books are long and heavy. They are on the liberal-leaning side

showing great sympathy to the unfortunates. They usually take place in cities, one of the major reasons

Galdos is so often compared to Dickens.Other outstanding productions of the nineteenth century were

"EI Sombrero de Tres Picos" of Antonio de Alarcon, the inspiration for Manuel de Falla's famous ballet

of the same name, and the works of the Valencian, Vicente Blasco lbanez. lbanez' novels include the

famous "Sangue y Arena", on bullfighting, and books on Valencian folk life.Spain's major scholar and

critic, Marcelino Menendez Pelayo, also belongs to the nineteenth century.

THE 20th CENTURY

Th20h Century

In the twentieth century, by far the dominent literary and intellectual phenomenon was the much-

heralded "Generation of 98", a group of poets, essayists, musicians, artists and others. Many of these

were pupils of, and others inspired by the teacher and educational reformer, Don Francisco Giner de los

Rios.

Giner was a man who believed that only through the slow, painstaking education of the Spanish People

could the country come to grips with its problems. He wanted to shut the door on the heroic conception

of Spain. The loss of the last vestiges of empire in Cuba and the Philippines was a welcome thing to the

men of this group, who believed that now it would be possible to begin building a new Spain.The

greatest of these in the realm of philosophy was without a doubt Miguel de Unamuno, who believed in

the arrival at truth only through the conflict of opposed ideas and urges. His best-known work is "The

Tragic Sense of Life in Men and Peoples". He also was a political writer, who wrote with a cutting pen

against the dictator Primo de Rivera. He eventually became an exile in Paris.Ortega y Gasset was

another of these men, strongly influenced by German Philosophy, especially the thought of Kant.

In Granada an artistic group gathered whose members used to have music and poetry sessions. The

music was quite often written for the occasion by Falla, while the poetry was that of a young Andalucian

named Federico Garcia Lorca.

Lorca was a true folk-poet who transformed and uplifted the ballad and folk-song until it could express

modern thought. His poems are filled with gypsies, violence and night-rides.

Spain lost a great talent when, in 1936, Lorca was shot to death at the age of 37. Antonio Machado,

writing after Lorca, was a very different type of poet though also an Andalucian. He expressed the more

cynical, austere side of the Spanish character and chose as his symbolic home the vast plain of Castilla

rather than the lush gardens of Andalucia. His best known volume of verse is "Campos de Castilla" His

forte was a dry wit and use of paradox.

Antonio Machado

Another great poet of our century was Juan Ramon Jimenez, writer of delicately crafted verse, who left

Spain to live and write in America.

Other names which must be mentioned are the poets Pedro Salinas, Damaso Alonso and Rafael Alberti

THE MOST RELEVANT FEASTS IN SPAIN.

There are lots of different feasts in Spain but here you have a presentation of the most relevant ones:

LAS FALLAS

From 13 to 19 March, Valencia celebrates one of Spain's best known festivals: Las Fallas.

What started as a feast day for St. Joseph, the patron saint of carpenters, has evolved into a 5-day,

multifaceted celebration involving fire. The focus of the fiesta is the creation and destruction of ninots

(“puppets” or “dolls”), which are enormous models made out of papier mache or cardboard, wood, and

wax, and often characaturing Spanish social and political current affairs.The labor intensive ninots are

crafted by neighborhood organizations and take almost the entire year to construct. Many ninots are

several stories tall and need to be moved into their final location of over 350 key intersections and parks

around the city with the aid of cranes on the day of la plantà (the rising).

The ninots remain in place until March 19th, the day known as La Cremá (the burning) when they are

burnt exactly at 12 midnight in a festival of fire. Each year, one of the ninots is spared from destruction

by popular vote. This ninot, the pardoned puppet, is exhibited in the local Museum of the Ninot along

with the other favorites from years past.

There are various theories concerning the origins of Fallas. Some claim that the festivals have been

celebrated in Valencia since the Middle Ages when carpenters used to light a bonfire on 19th March, St

Joseph Day. Joseph is the Patron Saint of Valencia.

CARNIVAL

Of all the crazy Spanish fiestas that take place throughout the year, there is nothing wilder than the

Carnival celebrations in late February. Originally conceived as the final day of permissiveness before

the start of the long period of penance and privations that lead up to the commemoration of the death of

Christ which happens in Easter, carnival soon evolved from a feast oriented towards the consumption of

"forbidden" goods (such as meat and sweets) to a full fledged celebration of all things carnal. Ultimately

a celebration of life itself, people have long dressed up for carnival, encouraging the free enjoyment of

the occasion in the anonymity of a disguise.

There are a few speculations on the origins of Carnival in Spain. Most popularly, it is believed the term

Carnival derives from the words "farewell to the flesh," a reference to the excesses that led up to the

sombre Lent. Carnival in Spain is celebrated nationwide though the most raucous festivities are in the

Canary Islands and Cadiz.

Carnival in Tenerife

Celebrated in the city of Santa Cruz, in the Tenerife carnival bears a strong resemblance to the one in

Brazil, featuring parades with floats, bands performing songs, Brazilian-style ensembles, and thousands

upon thousands of people decked out in fancy dress. Street musicians constantly fill the streets, various

types of music electrify the air, and the colors and costumes simply delight the view. Festive parades

snake through the city, boasting energetic music groups and vibrantly costumed performers. One of the

most celebrated traditions is the selection of each year's Tenerife carnival Queen from the parade's most

beautiful girls – the elaborate costumes that these girls take months tocreate and often weigh more than

100 kilograms!

Carnival in Cadiz

The Carnival in Cadiz is defined by its music which varies in terms of style. At any point in the crowded

streets, you'll find musical groups stationed in plazas or in open air carts and accompanied by guitars

and lutes. Listen to the “chrigotas”, groups of people from Cádiz who wander the streeets entertaining

everyone with their funny songs.These songs satirize everything and everybody: politicians, clergy and

celebrities are all cheerfully mocked, and the costumes have a focus on cleverness and wit. You can find

a competition for satirical group songs at the Gran Teatro Falla.

While 'chirigotas' usually set up in improvised locations like stairways and street corners, the choirs

(coros) are even harder to miss as they go through the streets in open carts accompanied by guitars and

lutes. As if being in an open cart wasn't enough, they have the most extravagant costumes in a carnival

devoted to flashy (and sometimes flashing!) attire. In the streets you can also find a wide variety of

improvisational theatre performed by 'ilegales', a term referring to just about anyone who fancies taking

part.

Carnival in Cadiz ends with the Burial of the Sardine, and you can join hundreds of "mourners"

following the paper mache fish and loudly mourning its passage. Most understandable as no one wants

to see the end of a great party!

EASTER

Spain celebrates Easter Week much more than most European countries. During the whole of

Semana Santa, (Holy Week), street processions are organised in most Spanish towns each evening, from

Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. To the solemn, persistent beat of a single drum, hundreds of men

wearing pointed hoods that cover their faces parade through narrow streets bearing huge crucifixes,

whilst women dressed in black stand silently and watch. To be in Spain at Easter is to witness a series of

ancient rituals that go to the heart of a country with a fiercely religious history. Everywhere, processions

(statues of saints on wooden platforms) make their way through the streets, carrying religious icons and

symbols of their faith. In Seville alone there are over 100 of these such images.

In some of the processions, marchers wear clothes reminiscent of the klu klux klan.

In fact their clothes are meant to depict the Nazarenos, people from Nazareth.

SEVILLE APRIL FAIR

Seville's April Fair is a huge annual event. The Seville Fair takes place just two weeks after Semana

Santa on Monday at midnight, normally 2 weeks after Easter, and ends with a fireworks display the

following Sunday, again, at midnight.

The April Fair is one of the most international and popular of Seville’s fiestas. It was created in 1847 as

a cattle fair, and over time the festive atmosphere that had grown up around the occasion took over the

business aspect, and it became a permanent fixture in Seville’s social calendar. For a week more than a

thousand “casetas” or tents installed in the fairground area become the second home of the city’s

inhabitants, a place where people come together to have fun and share experiences until the early hours

of the morning.

The fiesta officially begins at midnight on Monday with the “lighting test”, the illumination of the

thousands of multi-coloured light bulbs in the fairground and adorning the main gateway, which is

almost 50 metres high and has a different motif every year. Once inside the gate you come to the

“casetas”, and it is here where you really experience the fair. These tents belong to groups of friends and

associates, and are a family space where acquaintances, relations and guests are welcomed in and plied

with delicious food and wine; there is singing, good conversation and of course, "sevillanas", the local

version of flamenco dancing. The lively and festive atmosphere spills over into the area outside the

tents: people usually dance in the street, and the friendly personality of the Sevillian people will entice

passers-by into the celebration.

Throughout the fair, people wear typical Andalusian dress: the men wear the typical outfit of the

farmworker, and the women wear flamenco or gypsy dresses. By day the fair is filled with horsewomen,

riders and richly festooned carriages. Next to the fairground is the Calle del Infierno (Hell’s Street), a

lively recreational area with a host of attractions for children and adults, and stands selling cold drinks

and snacks. Another vital component is the bullfight: every afternoon people crowd into the Plaza de la

Maestranza bullring to see the day’s bullfight.

SAN FERMÍN FEASTS

San Fermin Feasts. From July 6th to 14th every year the word fiesta is written in capital letters in

Pamplona. The Sanfermines have arrived. When the chupinazo (ceremonial rocket) is fired the city

explodes into life. Thousands of people from all over the world descend on the city, which dresses up in

red and white. For nine days the streets turn into a feast of friendship, joy, music and non-stop partying,

to the rhythm of the charangas and the peñas.

The Encierro (Bull Run), the art of locking up all the streets so that there is only one main channel

through which people run in front of a dozen bulls, is the only moment of the day when the party stops,

and great tension descends on the route just a few minutes before the bulls start their 'race' behind the

mozos (young men). There are thousands of people on the streets of Pamplona who run like there is no

tomorrow-in order to stay safe from the bulls. The adrenalin is thick in the air,The Run goes through the

many streets to the bull ring , where they have to face the famous matadors. The distance between these

two places is roughly eight hundred and twenty five meters but is run through within the period of three

short minutes. The surge of emotions culminates in the bullring at the end of the run. The fiesta

continues with caldico (clear broth) chocolate with churros (long doughnuts), the Gigantes (ceremonial

giants) and Cabezudos (carnival figures with big heads), the aperitif, the bullfight in the evening, or the

fireworks at night. These then give way to all-night partying.

The race ends when the bulls enter the pens at the stadium where the Bullfight happens. These bull

fights have their own charm, with the greatest of matadors, going one on one with the crazed bulls.

FAMOUS MONUMENTS

Monastery and Site of the Escorial, Madrid

Built at the end of the 16th century on a plan in the form of a grill, the instrument of the martyrdom of St

Lawrence, the Escurial Monastery stands in an exceptionally beautiful site in Castile. Its austere

architecture, a break with previous styles, had a considerable influence on Spanish architecture for more

than half a century. It was the retreat of a mystic king and became, in the last years of Philip II's reign,

the centre of the greatest political power of the time.

Alhambra, Generalife and Albayzín, Granada

Rising above the modern lower town, the Alhambra and the Albaycín, situated on two adjacent hills,

form the medieval part of Granada. To the east of the Alhambra fortress and residence are the

magnificent gardens of the Generalife, the former rural residence of the emirs who ruled this part of

Spain in the 13th and 14th centuries. The residential district of the Albaycín is a rich repository of

Moorish vernacular architecture, into which the traditional Andalusian architecture blends

harmoniously.

El Albaicín El Generalife

Works of Antoni Gaudí

Seven properties built by the architect Antoni Gaudí (1852–1926) in or near Barcelona testify to Gaudí’s

exceptional creative contribution to the development of architecture and building technology in the late

19th and early 20th centuries. These monuments represent an eclectic, as well as a very personal, style

which was given free reign in the design of gardens, sculpture and all decorative arts, as well as

architecture. The seven buildings are: Casa Vicens; Gaudí’s work on the Nativity façade and Crypt of La

Sagrada Familia; Casa Batlló; Crypt in Colonia Güell.

The works of Antoni Gaudí represent a series of outstanding examples of the building typology in the

architecture of the early 20th century, residential as well as public, to the development of which he made

a significant and creative contribution. It is, furthermore, an outstanding and well-preserved example of

the ideal garden cities dreamed of by the urbanists of the end of the 19th century. It exhibits an

important interchange of values closely associated with the cultural and artistic currents of his time, as

represented in El Modernisme of Catalonia. It anticipated and influenced many of the forms and

techniques that were relevant to the development of modern construction in the 20th century.

Güell Park in Barcelona

The Prado Museum

The Museo del Prado is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It features one

of the world's finest collections of European art, from the 12th century to the early 19th century, based

on the former Spanish Royal Collection, and unquestionably the best single collection of Spanish art.

Founded as a museum of paintings and sculpture, it also contains important collections of other types of

works. A new, recently opened wing enlarged the display area by about 400 paintings, and it is currently

used mainly for temporary expositions. El Prado is one of the most visited sites in the world, and it is

considered to be among the greatest museums of art. The large numbers of works by Velázquez and

Francisco de Goya (the artist more extensively represented in the collection), Titian, Rubens and Bosch

are among the highlights of the collection.

El Museo del Prado

ROUTE OF SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA

Santiago de Compostela was proclaimed the first European Cultural itinerary by the Council of Europe

in 1987. This route from the French-Spanish border was – and still is – taken by pilgrims to Santiago de

Compostela. Some 1,800 buildings along the route, both religious and secular, are of great historic

interest. The route played a fundamental role in encouraging cultural exchanges between the Iberian

peninsula and the rest of Europe during the Middle Ages. It remains a testimony to the power of the

Christian faith among people of all social classes and from all over Europe.

NATURAL PARKS

Pirinees - Monte Perdido

This outstanding mountain landscape, which spans the contemporary national borders of France and

Spain, is centred around the peak of Mount Perdu, a calcareous massif that rises to 3,352 m. The site,

with a total area of 30,639 ha, includes two of Europe's largest and deepest canyons on the Spanish side

and three major cirque walls on the more abrupt northern slopes with France, classic presentations of

these geological landforms. The site is also a pastoral landscape reflecting an agricultural way of life

that was once widespread in the upland regions of Europe but now survives only in this part of the

Pyrénées. Thus it provides exceptional insights into past European society through its landscape of

villages, farms, fields, upland pastures and mountain roads.

Doñana National Park

Doñana National Park in Andalusia occupies the right bank of the Guadalquivir river at its estuary on

the Atlantic Ocean. It is notable for the great diversity of its biotopes, especially lagoons, marshlands,

fixed and mobile dunes, scrub woodland and maquis. It is home to five threatened bird species. It is one

of the largest heronries in the Mediterranean region and is the wintering site for more than 500,000

water fowl each year.

Teide National Park

Situated on the island of Tenerife, Teide National Park features the Teide-Pico Viejo stratovolcano that,

at 3,718 m, is the highest peak on Spanish soil. Rising 7,500 m above the ocean floor, it is regarded as

the world’s third-tallest volcanic structure and stands in a spectacular environment. The visual impact of

the site is all the greater due to atmospheric conditions that create constantly changing textures and tones

in the landscape and a ‘sea of clouds’ that forms a visually impressive backdrop to the mountain. Teide

is of global importance in providing evidence of the geological processes that underpin the evolution of

oceanic islands.

Garajonay National Park

Laurel forest covers some 70% of this park, situated in the middle of the island of La Gomera in the

Canary Islands archipelago. The presence of springs and numerous streams assures a lush vegetation

resembling that of the Tertiary, which, due to climatic changes, has largely disappeared from southern

Europe.

Garajonay National Park, La Gomera, Canary Islands

Ibiza, Biodiversity and Culture

Ibiza provides an excellent example of the interaction between the marine and coastal ecosystems. The

dense prairies of oceanic Posidonia (seagrass), an important endemic species found only in the

Mediterranean basin, contain and support a diversity of marine life. Ibiza preserves considerable

evidence of its long history. The archaeological sites at Sa Caleta (settlement) and Puig des Molins

(necropolis) testify to the important role played by the island in the Mediterranean economy in

protohistory, particularly during the Phoenician-Carthaginian period. The fortified Upper Town (Alta

Vila) is an outstanding example of Renaissance military architecture; it had a profound influence on the

development of fortifications in the Spanish settlements of the New World

THE SPANISH CUISINE

Historic contributions mixture

Spanish pantry is a result of the contributions of all the peopleswho have visited us throughout history.

For instance, the Greeks, Phoenicians and Carthaginians introduced olive oil, almonds, grapes and

boiled food, the first step of the well known “cocido” (a typical stew, based on boiling legumes, meat

and vegetables). We owe the Arabs various other fundamental elements, such as rice, sugar, vegetables,

fruits like oranges and exotic spices such as saffron, cummin or nutmeg. It is also part of their legacy the

use of almonds in many dishes and desserts, as well as in pastry and biscuit. The American contribution

was also important for our cuisine, seeing as the introduction of some of their products became the base

of Spanish cuisine, as it is the case of tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, beans, pumpkins, avocados, corn or

chocolate.

VEGETABLES COCIDO

If we had to list the singularities of traditional Spanish cuisine, we could synthesise them into four

points:

1. It is based on a seasonal cuisine. We elaborate different dishes accoding to the season of the

year we are living in.

2. It is very varied depending on the geographical situation. Because of Spain has very distinct

geographical regions, settled by different ethnic and cultural groups, and because the weather varies

from province to province, the regional cuisines are very diverse.

3. It feeds on fresh products.

4. The variety of dishes cooked with a base of legumes, vegetables, olive oil and cold cuts is

what stands out the most in all the regional cuisine.

Ingredients and typical food

Fish and Seafood- Because Spain is located on the Iberian Peninsula and is surrounded on three sides

by water (the Atlantic, Cantabrian and Mediterranean seas), the Spanish cuisine has a great variety of

recipes where the main ingredients are fish and seafood.

Meat and Ham - Though the inland also has its substantial treasures, such as lamb, pork, veal, game

and poultry. All these meats are common and can be roasted, grilled over the coals or sautéed in a sauce.

But , without any doubt, ham (or as we say “jamón”) is our more prized food. We obtain it from a native

pork: the Iberian pork which is feed with acorn. We take our ham as seriously that we will pay a high

price for a top quality ham.

Eggs - They are eaten frequently either fried or in a Spanish omelette, called tortilla española in Spain.

They are also an essential part of many recipes, including desserts and salads.

Legumes - Beans of all types are eaten regularly in our country. Beans and chickpeas (garbanzo beans)

have been a staple of the Spanish cuisine for centuries and rivaled bread as the most commonly eaten

food!

Rice – It is very popular among the villages and towns along the coast, being the main ingredient for the

wellknown paella. Although it is also an important ingredient in the inland.

Fruits and Vegetables – Spaniards eat lots of fresh fruit as snacks or as dessert because we have a big

production in our field of fruits. A fresh fruit bowl sits in every kitchen. The same happens with

vegetables; in our diet we consume lots of different vegetables in salads or sautéed vegetables.

Cheese – Wonderful cheese of every type can be eaten in our cuisine. Spanish cheese are made from

sheep, cow, goat milk and mixed and we have a large variety of cheese (creamy, soft, medium or hard)

from the hard manchego variety to the soft creamy cheese such as tetilla from Galicia and everything in

between. There are even blue cheese such as Cabrales.

Dessert - Spain is one of the top producers of almonds, hazelnuts and walnuts. Almond-based and milk-

based desserts are very common. Many recipes of Arabic origin contain crushed almonds. Turron, an

almond nougat candy eaten at Christmas is probably the best-known of these sweets. Each region has

got a typical dessert made with ingredients of their area.

Herbs and Spices - Garlic, onions and herbs such as oregano, rosemary and thyme are typical

ingredients in our recipes.

Olive oil – It is, without any doubt, the brighest star for our recipes. It is the “chief of our cuisine” as

Spain is a leading producer of olive oil and olives are grown all over the south of our country.

As accompaniments, we have got wines from the largest vineyard in the world which provide white,

rosé, red, cava, Sherry, Manzanilla and sweet wines, all of which come from high quality grapes.

To sum up, we will say that all these ingredients are the ground of a Mediterranean Diet (it is proved it is

really healthy for the human beings), which is mainly based on consuming bread, pasta, rice, cereal,

potatoes, fruit, dried nuts, beans and legumes, vegetables, olive oil, yogurt, and wine, in moderation,

daily; a weekly intake of chicken, fish, sweets and eggs and a monthly consumption of red meat.

SANLÚCAR DE BARRAMEDA, OUR TOWN

Sanlúcar de Barrameda (or simply Sanlúcar) is a city in the northwest of Cádiz province, part

of the autonomous community of Andalucía in southern Spain. Sanlúcar is located on the left

bank at the mouth of the Guadalquivir River opposite the Doñana National Park, 52 km from the

provincial capital Cádiz and 119 km from Sevilla capital of the autonomous region Andalucía. Its

population is 65,805 inhabitants (National Institute of Statistics 2009).

Sanlúcar has been inhabited since ancient times, and is assumed to have belonged to the

realm of the Tartessian civilization. The town of Sanlúcar was granted to the Spanish

nobleman Alonso Pérez de Guzmán in 1297.

Due to its strategic location, the city was a starting point for the exploration, colonization and

evangelization of America between the 15th and 17th centuries. Sanlúcar lost much of its

strategic value after 1645 due to the disgrace of the House of Medina Sidonia, the general

decline of Spain under Charles II, the relocation of the Casa de Contratación to Cadiz in 1717,

and the Lisbon earthquake of 1755.

Trip to America Palace of Medina Sidonia

In the 19th century the economy of the city was converted to viticulture and summer tourism.

The 20th century brought destruction and political upheaval as it did elsewhere in Spain during

the Spanish Civil War. Sanlúcar was declared a Cultural Historical-artistic site in 1973. Since the

restoration of democracy (1975–1982) its town council has borrowed heavily, making Sanlúcar

the city with the lowest per capita income in Spain.

Currently Sanlúcar is a summer tourist destination famous for its cuisine, specially manzanilla (a

variety of fino sherry) and prawns.

It is internationally renowned for beach horse racing and flamenco music. It has also got an

important bull ring.

Bull fighting The bull ring

Dancing and singing flamenco al “Doñana” Secondary School

Summer Horse Races

Less well known but equally important are the historical archives of the House of Medina

Sidonia (Archivo de la Casa de Medina Sidonia); the major part of the patrimony of the House of

Medina Sidonia is located in the palace of the same name. The patron saint of the city is Our

Lady of Charity, to whom it was dedicated in 1917.

At the Town Hall with the Town Mayor